Rallying for two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Royals edged the Rangers, 3-2. K.C. trailed, 2-1, when Amos Otis began the bottom of the ninth wth a double and took third on a single by Lee May. Steve Comer then replaced Jon Matlack on the hill for the Rangers and walked Willie Aikens to load the bases.

A sacrifice fly by Frank White plated Otis with the tying run. Comer was derricked in favor of John Henry Johnson, who struck out pinch-hitter Jamie Quirk for the second out. But Willie Wilson then rapped a single to drive home the winning run. [The Sporting News]

Kansas City Royals 3, Texas Rangers 2

Game Played on Tuesday, May 12, 1981 (Night game) at Royals Stadium

Rangers 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 9 0 Royals 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 - 3 11 0 Rangers AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Royals AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Wills 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .298 Wilson lf 5 0 2 1 0 0 .274 Rivers cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .286 Washington ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .227 Oliver dh 4 0 1 0 0 0 .314 G. Brett 3b 4 1 4 0 0 0 .291 Bell 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .304 McRae dh 4 0 1 0 0 1 .234 Grubb rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .306 Otis cf 3 1 2 1 0 0 .224 Putnam 1b 3 1 1 0 1 0 .292 May 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .364 Roberts lf 4 1 3 1 0 0 .368 Garcia pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 .091 Sundberg c 3 0 1 0 1 0 .261 Wathan rf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .299 Mendoza ss 4 0 1 1 0 2 .256 Aikens ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .320 Matlack p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 White 2b 2 0 0 1 1 0 .200 Comer p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Grote c 3 0 0 0 0 0 .250 J. Johnson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Quirk ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .250 Leonard p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 34 2 9 2 2 3 Totals 33 3 11 3 2 3 Time of Game: 2:18 Attendance: 19,155 Left on Base: Rangers 7, Royals 8 DP: Rangers 2, Royals 2 Doubles: Putnam (6), Roberts (5), G. Brett 2 (7), Otis (4) Sacrifice Flies: Otis (3), White (2) GIDP: Grubb (4), May (1), Grote (1) Rangers IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Matlack L(1-3) 8 10 3 3 1 2 0 33 3.38 Comer 0.1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 3.09 J. Johnson 0.1 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 2.13 Totals 8.2 11 3 3 2 3 0 37 Royals IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Leonard W(3-4) 9 9 2 2 2 3 0 36 2.87 Totals 9 9 2 2 2 3 0 36 Wild Pitches: Leonard (2) Umpires: HP - Russ Goetz, 1B - George Maloney, 2B - Ken Kaiser, 3B - Bill Haller RANGERS 1ST: Wills flied out to right; Rivers struck out; Oliver grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 0, Royals 0. ROYALS 1ST: Wilson grounded out (first unassisted); Washington grounded out (third to first); G. Brett doubled to left; McRae struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Rangers 0, Royals 0. RANGERS 2ND: Bell made an out to shortstop; Grubb lined to center; Putnam doubled to right; Roberts singled to left [Putnam scored]; Sundberg singled to left [Roberts to third]; Mendoza singled to left [Roberts scored, Sundberg to second]; Wills grounded out (pitcher to first); 2 R, 4 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Rangers 2, Royals 0. ROYALS 2ND: Otis singled to left; May grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Otis out at second]; Wathan singled to left; White made an out to second; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Rangers 2, Royals 0. RANGERS 3RD: Rivers grounded out (third to first); Oliver singled to left; Leonard threw a wild pitch [Oliver to second]; Bell flied out to left; Grubb grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Rangers 2, Royals 0. ROYALS 3RD: Grote grounded out (shortstop to first); Wilson singled to shortstop; Washington struck out; G. Brett singled to right [Wilson to third]; McRae flied out to center; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Rangers 2, Royals 0. RANGERS 4TH: Putnam lined to left; Roberts made an out to second; Sundberg flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 2, Royals 0. ROYALS 4TH: Otis grounded out (third to first); May made an out to first; Wathan grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 2, Royals 0. RANGERS 5TH: Mendoza was called out on strikes; Wills grounded out (second to first); Rivers grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 2, Royals 0. ROYALS 5TH: White walked; Grote grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [White out at second]; Wilson flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 2, Royals 0. RANGERS 6TH: Oliver grounded out (shortstop to first); Bell grounded out (pitcher to first); Grubb lined to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 2, Royals 0. ROYALS 6TH: Washington flied out to center; G. Brett singled to right; McRae singled to center [G. Brett to third]; Otis hit a sacrifice fly to right [G. Brett scored]; On a bunt May grounded out (catcher to second); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Rangers 2, Royals 1. RANGERS 7TH: Putnam grounded out (shortstop to first); Roberts singled to left; Sundberg lined into a double play (second to first) [Roberts out at first]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 2, Royals 1. ROYALS 7TH: Wathan grounded out (pitcher to first); White made an out to second; Grote grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 2, Royals 1. RANGERS 8TH: Mendoza struck out; Wills singled to right; Rivers flied out to center; Oliver grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Rangers 2, Royals 1. ROYALS 8TH: Wilson lined to second; Washington grounded out (shortstop to first); G. Brett doubled to right; McRae grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Rangers 2, Royals 1. RANGERS 9TH: Bell singled to right; Grubb grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Bell out at second]; Putnam walked; Roberts doubled to left [Putnam to third]; Sundberg was walked intentionally; Mendoza grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB. Rangers 2, Royals 1. ROYALS 9TH: Otis doubled to right; May singled to left [Otis to third]; GARCIA RAN FOR MAY; AIKENS BATTED FOR WATHAN; COMER REPLACED MATLACK (PITCHING); Aikens walked [Garcia to second]; White hit a sacrifice fly to center [Otis scored]; J. JOHNSON REPLACED COMER (PITCHING); QUIRK BATTED FOR GROTE; Quirk struck out; Wilson singled to center [Garcia scored, Aikens to second]; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Rangers 2, Royals 3.

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